Paul Simon: ¡°I¡¯m more worried about what Trump is going to do to the planet than to my country¡±

Paul Simon is not a man who likes to dwell on the past. He was due to give EL PA?S an interview the day after Donald Trump¡¯s shock US election win, but cancelled: ¡°devastated¡± was how his manager described the singer, saying he had stayed in bed. Then, two days on, Simon was back on his feet and looking to the future.

¡°The debate can¡¯t focus on Trump¡¯s personality, but on the large number of people who feel tricked, forgotten, to the point of voting for him,¡± he says, his voice sounding tired at the other end of the telephone in his London hotel. ¡°What has happened is a surprise, but to reclaim the national conversation we should start from there and look forward.¡±

Simon says he believes ¡®Stranger to Stranger¡¯ is his best album since 1986¡¯s ¡®Graceland¡¯

Simon is on a European tour to promote his new album, Stranger to Stranger, that will see him play two Spanish dates after a 25-year absence: Bilbao on Thursday night and Madrid on Friday.

Turning to the subject of Trump¡¯s election, Simon says he fears for the future. ¡°I respect the people who voted for him, but all I see in him is this authoritarian guy, unscrupulous when it comes to looking at his country and the world,¡± he explains, adding: ¡°I¡¯m not angry with my country, but with the results of the election. We have to pay attention now to what has happened. The question is: what is happening to us as a country? Nobody would ever have thought that somebody like him would have come to power, but it has happened. There are no rules in the Constitution for these things.¡±

Simon is a lifelong Democratic Party supporter, allowing Bernie Sanders to use one of his best-known songs, ¡°America,¡± during his campaign for the party¡¯s presidential nomination. He believes Sanders would have stood a better chance against Trump than Hillary Clinton. ¡°In any event, I¡¯m more worried about what this guy is going to do to the planet than to my country. For example, he doesn¡¯t believe in the environment. He could cause more than one tragedy with his vision of nature,¡± he says.

The debate can¡¯t focus on Trump's personality

Asked about his new album, Simon says he believes it to be his best since 1986¡¯s Graceland. ¡°I¡¯m very proud of it, of how my voice sounds, as well as my use of my knowledge both at the technological and philosophical level,¡± adding: ¡°On this album there is even a search for flamenco rhythms. I like it a lot, but I recognize that it is very hard for me. It is something passionate, fascinating¡­ You can see it like the blues in the southern United States.¡±

As the conversation draws to a close, Simon insists again on the importance of not looking backward, unless it is to learn something so as to move forward. He certainly doesn¡¯t want to talk about Simon and Garfunkel. ¡°We spent many years together, but people don¡¯t ask me much about it. They have no expectations because there has never been the chance of a reunion or anything like that. I play songs from that time at my concerts, and that¡¯s that.¡±

English version by Nick Lyne.